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Page Two
THE BENNETT BANNER
DECEMBER, 1959
THE BENNETT BANNER
Published Monthly By The Students of Bennett College
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
Inquiring Reporter
What does Christmas mean to j
This question was asked ol
members of each class.
Ten Cents a Copy
$1.00 Per Subscription
Editorial Staff
Editob
Associate Editors
News Etitor
Society Editors
Carolyn James
Von Moore
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Circulation
REPORTERS
Marie S. Moore
Desretta McAllister
Raemi Lancaster
Jacqueline Daise
Jacquelyn Burkes
Jacquilla Powell
Josephine Collins
Carolyn Graves
Gloria Barnes
Bonita Davis
Idajeanne Robinson
Linda Brown
TYPISTS
Brenda Richey
PROOF-READERS
Merry Jean Sparrow
Angela Carroll
Shirley Thompson
Patricia Hargrove
Rosalyn Cheagle
Gloria Lee
Margaret Bailey
Elizabeth Daise
Carrie Buchanan
Dorothy Albritton
Jo Ann Martin
Rosa Shaw
Laura Jackson
Gloria Black
Delores Parks
Gloria McKnight
Gloria Montgomery
Yvonne McBride
Barbara Tascoe
Carole Collins
Barbara Miller
Raemi Lancaster
Delores Coe
i
Christmas Spirit
Christmas is not a day but a season of the year which is
characterized by a spirit of festivity and happiness. It is a
spirit of giving and contributing to the joy of others. The
Christmas spirit in our country is evident chiefly by a spirit
of giving. Christmas, for most people, means na exchange of
gifts. We are quite sure that students in economics would
agi’ee that billions of dollars flow each year into business en
terprises because of our Christmas custom of exchanging
greetings and gifts. There is, however, a bit of controversy
concerning the meaning of Christmas. Many people, particu
larly those who are deeply religious, insist that this is not the
true meaning or spirit of Christmas. Christmas should have
a religious significance. There can be no argument that will
defeat the principle that with Christmas comes a spiritual
meaning.
In spite of all, we have to face up to facts. Since the ex
change of greetings and gifts has been adopted as our regular
custom, we should at least learn that it is not the gift itself
but the spirit in which it is given that counts.
Some people are like a sponge—soft and good-natured.
People like this enter with reluctance into the true spirit of
Christmas. Then we have the active “bee.” The bee does not
have to be forced to contribute his sweetness. Instead, its ac
tions originate from an inner drive that stimulates it to go
about building a durable honeycomb. It represents the true
spirit of giving. It is the spirit of giving without the thought
of return. It is a completely unselfish spirit. We can make
life better for those around us through the Christmas cus
tom of exchanging greetings, gifts, and by keeping, so to
speak, the “Christ” in Christmas.
We are sure that all students and people from every walk
of life look forward to this particular season of the year
when we can concentrate on the giving at Christmas time. It
is true in America that Christmas is a holiday. Nevertheless,
let us strive to carry over the meaning of Christmas to the
other months in the year after Christmas comes and goes.
Yvoiiiie Harris, freshman
science major: “As Christmas ap
proaches, I think of returning
home, reuniting with my family,
and friends. It is a special oc
casion that brings with it the op
portunity to give others the hap
piness that God has bestowed up
on us.”
“Some people think of Christ
mas as being the season for fabu
lous decorations and the coming
of Santa Claus. But to me Christ
mas signifies the birth of a Sav
iour; a Saviour who came to the
world to bring peace to all men.
“The manifestation of our
Christmas spirit is exemplified in
our participation in Christmas
Sister Week activities. As God
gave us his only son 1959 years
ago, so do we here at Bennett
attempt to bestow a feeling of
the Christmas spirit upon the
hearts of mankind.”
“As you celebrate the holidays,
don’t forget the real significance
of Christmas and the birth of
Jesus.”
Patricia Williams, sophomore,
Sociology major: “Since child
hood we have been told the story
of the first Christmas which is
the birthday of our E.ord, Jesus
Christ. This story has meant a
great deal to me in that it has
enlightened me to the extent that
there is more to this day, Dec.
25th, than giving presents and
being gay. When I say being gay,
I mean to the extreme, or to the
extent we forget the purpose.”
“Christmas should be regarded
as would the Sabbath because it
is the one big day of the year
that we actually acknowledge the
birth of Jesus as our Saviour.”
“I think that if we would real
ize that Christmas is the birth
day of Jesus, the one responsible
for our being here, there would
not be the extensive flow of
parties, and things of festivity on
this day.”
Carolyn Bennett, junicJr, mathe
matics major: “We are now in
the season where practically
everyone appears joyous. This is
how it should be, for this is the
Christmas season, a season in
vvhich we celebrate the most pro
found blessing ever given to man,
the birth of Jesus.’
“When we stop to think of the
true meaning of Christmas, our
thoughts always return to the
“Child” in the manger. This
Child to me symbolizes the great
gift to man of love, peace and
renewed hope. Because of this
great love that was given to man
througli the birth of Jesus, we in
turn express our love for Him
who gave by remembering others.
“Christmas, to me is a time of
ove and as was sung by the
angels on that glorious day, a
time of “peace on earth and good
will to all men.”
ARE YOU READY?
9lMl
Fof, 1 ‘W
The Essence of
Christmas Sister Week
Sometime before Christmas,
we sat still wliile we pulled
secretly the sister we would
cherish for one week. Our minds
were immediate.y figuring out
the time in which she would be
out of her room; time in which
we could slip in to make her
bed, hang up her pajamas, slip
an apple under her pillow, or
press that long wrinkled blouse.
• Right then, the beauty of giving
had become a practical part of
our lives. Which meant that we
had gotten into the swing and
feeling of Christmas. WE were
constantly looking for ways to
make the week last longer, for
here was time in which we gave
unboastfully of our time, efforts,
and love.
Yes, for many of us, this was
an expression of the essence of
Christmas sister week. But I ask
each of you who feel likewise,
is it? Why is it that for only one
week we become persons that no
one ever dreamed we could be?
Why is it that this time of exault-
ed love and sisterhood lasts for
only one week? What then is the
very essence of this week we
have designated as Christmas sis
ter week?
To answer such a question, we
must look beyond our Christmas
season into our every activity in
every season of which we live
together and call ourselves sisters
on this campus. For many of us,
the significance and fundamental
nature of the ideal of sisterhood
has been lost. Surely, we sing cf
it in our AJma Mater, and in our
sister song. We speak of it in our
chapel, our classrooms, our stu
dent union, and our dormitories.
We even say that we mamtain it
when we keep fresh the grave of
Idle Gossip. But is this Ideal for
all of us a reality? j
The undergirding thought of
the ideal of sisterhood gendered
here on our campus is Love. Love
in its entirety. So it is with our
Christmas sister week. To take
the duties, trial, and personal re-
lationsliips of life up into the
atmosphere of love, so that what
we do and how we react toward
each other becomes the resultant,
not of the outward situation and
our natural appetites and pas
sions, but of the outward situa
tion and the love within our
hearts always—This is the essence
of the week we call Christmas
sister week.
And when expressed and ob
served in every degree, it reaches
beyond the time limit of one week
into each day in which we live
together as a human family. Then
as it becomes a definite part of
our very beings, there become no
logical reasons for one to misuse
the kindness of another, to mis
place or remove another’s belong
ings, or to spread malicious ru
mors about each other. What a
worthy end in which all of our
energies may be concentrated.
So the essence of Christmas
Sister Week is the same as the
essence of our ideal of sisterhood
gendered every day on our cam
pus. The only difference is that it
has been placed in the realm and
in the 9tmosphere of the Christ
mas season to remind us in a
loving and high sort of a way
of the true meaning of Christmas
and, above all, sisterhood.
. . . “The crest and crowning of
all good,
And life’s final star is Sisterhood.”
By Gloria Jean Mcknight
Betty Jean Shropshire, seni6r
sociology major: ‘‘What Christ
mas means to me, can be summed
up in one word “GIVING”. By
this I mean giving of one’s self
to God and his fellowmen. A true
example was set for us centuries
ago in a little town called Bethle
hem when God gave to the world
his only begotten Son.”
Miss Demo
While strolling the campus on
a misty evening, I beheld such
daring mortals. Oh, how brave
they stand in destruction. Where
doth thou get this profoimd power
that leadeth th«e to destroy? My
voice grows faint as I struggle to
cry out once again, stop using
the outside of the Student Union
for a lobby!!!
The beauty of the Nativity
Scene in front of the Student
Union each,year during the Christ
mas season reminds one of the
real or true meaning of the birth
of Christ.
Let us remember as we leave
for the holidays that “A safe holi
day is a merry holiday.”
The Christmas season is doing
much to cure my ulcers. For this
relief I am glad. I wish for each
and every one a merry, merry
Christmas and a happy New Yearl
SEE YOU AROUND m ’601